The
Client
Robinson & Co, founded in 1888, was an 117 year old Boston jeweler that had
substantial shareholder value in the company’s fine jewelry, watch, and gift
inventory. This value was, in part, the consequence of retained earnings that
had been continuously reinvested in the business over decades of operations and
partly because of asset appreciation in the face of escalating precious metal
and diamond prices. In addition, shareholders had undervalued real estate
on the books, such as the company’s prime, street location in the Jeweler’s Building
situated in downtown Boston, MA.
Now, Robinson & Co family owners were anxious to execute an exit strategy
that would unlock the potential value in the company’s inventory, while facilitating
the pending sale of the company’s real estate to an outside investor.
The Gordon Company Assignment:
- Liquidate the Robinson & Co inventory, maximizing
shareholder value
- Complete the retirement sale during the summer to meet
the scheduled sale of the company’s real estate
closing transaction in the fall
The scope of The Gordon Company’s assignment included:
- Developing a retirement sales and marketing plan tailored
to the downtown Boston consumer market
- Preparing an integrated business plan, including sales
budget, media plan, and resource plans for the retirement
sale that targeted local consumers as well as summer
tourist traffic to maximize store traffic
- Recommending an optimum pricing strategy to maximize
the liquidation of the company’s inventory, taking into
account, Boston’s highly competitive downtown retail
market
- Designing custom creative material targeting street
traffic in downtown Boston, with specific focus on tourists
- Assisting Robinson & Co owners with staffing, implementation
and control of the liquidation sale in order to optimize
results
Considerations:
- Downtown Boston is a highly competitive market
- Summer was not an optimum time to execute a retirement/liquidation
sale in the highly urbane Boston market
- Time was of the essence. The retirement event
had to be completed before fall so the real estate deal
could close
- Preservation of the Robinson & Co reputation for
value and integrity was paramount to owners and shareholders
The Gordon Company Solution and Accomplishments:
- The Gordon Company designed and developed an innovative,
“street theatre” marketing plan to communicate the retirement
event to local downtown consumers and tourists that consisted
of unique communications tools like passing out handbills
and distributing bottled water with the sale message,
all tied to Boston historic themes
- The Gordon Company media-advertising plan used “out
of the box” thinking, targeting print advertising to
the local financial district, rather than using traditional,
more expensive and less productive daily newspapers
- The Gordon Company’s solution maximized the return
for the Robinson & Co family, while preserving the
company’s reputation for value and integrity in the Boston
community. According to Mark Robinson, “My biggest concern
going into this project was that the business had been
in my family for over 100 years and the reputation of
our family business means everything to me. The Gordon
Company team made sure that everything was done properly
and above board”
- The retirement event was completed on time and within
budget
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According to Mark Robinson…
“The Gordon Company made my retirement sale
a great success. They exceeded my expectations
and their field consultant did everything possible
to make the sale run smoothly and profitably. They
put me at ease with my decision. My biggest
concern going into this project was that the business
had been in my family for over 100 years and the
reputation of our family business means everything
to me. Phil Holden and his team made sure
that everything was done properly and above board.” |
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